Never heard of Litl? That's because they're a rather small (or little,
if we should be so hilarious) start-up company, trying their best to
compete with the big boys at Google and the like. Last year, the
company introduced their version of a convertible netbook, called the
Webbook. It runs a special, proprietary operating system (Litl OS), and
just recently went to $399 from a high of $699 at launch. Now, Litl OS
is about to find its second home, on an upcoming set-top box designed
to take on the impending Google TV.

At the upcoming Flash and the City developers conference, Litl will be
on-hand to reveal plans for a "new web-connected TV product slated for
launch in early 2011 and extend the reach of its intuitive software
platform by releasing an Adobe Flash 10.1-based software development
kit (SDK)." In the constant battle between Flash and HTML5, this is
definitely a win for Adobe. But again, most everyone at this conference
will probably be support Adobe, wouldn't you think? Chuck Freedman,
Litl's chief channel evangelist, had this to say about the forthcoming debut:

"We are taking the simple, intuitive experience that we developed for
the webbook and bringing it to the family room TV. Until now,
applications for TVs and set-top boxes have consisted of little more
than widgets. Our platform changes everything by enabling feature-rich,
Flash-based apps without the complexity of a desktop environment. We
believe that our platform's use of Flash will be the best and easiest
way for developers to deliver great content and applications to the TV.
And with the launch of our SDK, we are enabling over one million
developers in the Flash community to monetize their work by building
new apps or porting their existing apps to our store."

It's still up in the air exactly what the Litl box will do, but it'll
probably have a job of handling Web content playback as well as surfing
through photo galleries and the like. Also, the button-laden remote is
quite unique, and could very well revolutionize the way users think of
living room controlling devices. Then again, Apple and Comcast have
already done that, but there's always room for two revolutions in a
single month, right?

Litl to Launch Flash-Based Web-Connected TV Product

Releases Software Development Kit (SDK) to Flash Community

BOSTON, May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- At the upcoming Flash and the City (flashandthecity.com) developers conference, litl (litl.com) will reveal plans for a new web-connected TV product slated for launch in early 2011 and extend the reach of its intuitive software platform by releasing an Adobe® Flash® 10.1-based software development kit (SDK).

"We are taking the simple, intuitive experience that we developed for the webbook and bringing it to the family room TV," said Chuck Freedman, litl's chief channel evangelist. "Until now, applications for TVs and set-top boxes have consisted of little more than widgets. Our platform changes everything by enabling feature-rich, Flash-based apps without the complexity of a desktop environment."

Launched in November, the litl webbook is an Internet computer for the home. It runs litl OS, an operating system with a revolutionary user interface designed to make computing simple and enjoyable. The company's planned web-connected TV device will also run litl OS.

"We believe that our platform's use of Flash will be the best and easiest way for developers to deliver great content and applications to the TV," said Freedman. "And with the launch of our SDK, we are enabling over one million developers in the Flash community to monetize their work by building new apps or porting their existing apps to our store."

Supporting Adobe Flash Player 10.1, the litl SDK includes a code library, simulator, code samples, and documentation. The SDK will continue to advance in coming months with new APIs, including accelerometer movement, video chat, trackpad gestures, and microphone input that will allow open development of gaming, communication, entertainment and other experiences.

With the litl webbook, users can access web content through custom Flash applications that transform web content to make it more useful and entertaining. Applications custom-designed by litl and currently available to users include Facebook, The Weather Channel, Flickr, Shutterfly, and BakeSpace. With the release of the litl SDK, users will benefit from a much larger selection of applications created by independent developers and partners.

To learn more and get started, developers can visit developer.litl.com to apply for the SDK's private beta package. At the Flash and the City conference in New York from May 14-16, representatives from litl will be on hand to introduce the SDK, share rollout plans, and help developers get started.